Monday 15 January 2018

SCIENCE NEWS

Science News
from research organizations

Scaling to new heights with gecko-inspired adhesive

Date:
January 10, 2018
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Some animals, such as geckos, can easily climb up walls and across ceilings. But currently, no material exists that allows everyday people to scale walls or transverse ceilings as effortlessly. Now, scientists report a dry adhesive that could someday make it easier to defy gravity.
Geckos can scale walls because of their unique toe pads that help them quickly attach and detach from surfaces. Interestingly, gecko toe pads are covered with bristle-like layers of a stiff material called keratin. The bristle-like structure of the keratin in a toe pad helps it to stick -- each pad is covered with microscopic pillars, which then branch out at the tips into even smaller structures. Scientists have manufactured dry adhesives with similar properties, but they haven't been as sticky as gecko toes. And some methods involve the use of layers, but the first layer is usually damaged as successive ones are applied. Other methods are not easily scaled up. Hemant Kumar Raut, Hong Yee Low and colleagues wanted create a dry adhesive that was ultra-sticky but also simple to fabricate in large batches.
The researchers made a dry adhesive with stiff polycarbonate using a nanoimprinting technique to build web-like layers. This method is cost-effective, easy to perform and is scalable. To prevent damage to the first layer, the team used a sacrificial layer, which was dissolved away after the second layer was applied. In repetitive attachment and detachment tests, only a 20 percent decline in stickiness occurred after 50 cycles. This level of adhesion lasted for up to 200 cycles. The researchers say that their film's adhesion was comparable to that of a gecko. The team also placed the adhesive film on the feet of a miniature robot, which moved with ease up a 30-degree incline.

Largest known prime number discovered

50th known Mersenne prime ever found, on computer volunteered in collaborative project

Date:
January 4, 2018
Source:
Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS)
Summary:
A collaborative computer project has discovered the largest known prime number. The new prime number is nearly one million digits larger than the previous record prime number, in a special class of extremely rare prime numbers known as Mersenne primes
he new prime number, also known as M77232917, is calculated by multiplying together 77,232,917 twos, and then subtracting one.

Artificial muscles power up with new gel-based robotics

Date:
January 10, 2018
Source:
Shinshu University
Summary:
Scientists are one step closer to artificial muscles. Orthotics have come a long way, yet innovation lapsed when it came to compensating for muscle power -- until now. A collaborative research team has designed a wearable robot to support a person's hip joint while walking.
The coming of age of gene therapy: A review of the past and path forward
Date:
January 11, 2018
Source:
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Summary:
After three decades of hopes tempered by setbacks, gene therapy -- the process of treating a disease by modifying a person's DNA -- is no longer the future of medicine, but is part of the present-day clinical treatment toolkit. A new article provides an in-depth and timely review of the key developments that have led to several successful gene therapy treatments for patients with serious medical conditions.
Gene therapy is designed to introduce genetic material into cells to compensate for or correct abnormal genes. If a mutated gene causes damage to or spurs the disappearance of a necessary protein, for example, gene therapy may be able to introduce a normal copy of the gene to restore the function of that protein.

Fast food makes the immune system more aggressive in the long term

Study shows that even after a change to a healthy diet, the body's defenses remain hyperactive

Date:
January 11, 2018
Source:
University of Bonn
Summary:
The immune system reacts similarly to a high fat and high calorie diet as to a bacterial infection. Unhealthy food seems to make the body's defenses more aggressive in the long term. Even long after switching to a healthy diet, inflammation towards innate immune stimulation is more pronounced. These changes may be involved in the development of arteriosclerosis and diabetes.

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